Exploding harpoon



C. BURT.

Bomb Lance.

No. 8,073. Patented May 6, 1851.

NPETERS, PHOTQ-LITHOGRAPHER, WASHNGTON. D C

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHAS. BURT, OF BELFAST, MAINE.

EXPLODING HARPOON.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 8,073, dated May 6, 1851.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES BURT, of Belfast, in the county of Waldo and State of Maine, have invented a new and useful Improvement on the Harpoon for Killing Whales, which I call Burts Exploding Harpoon, of which the following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a full, clear, and exact description.

The harpoon is made with but one barb, and of sufficient thickness in the center to admit in the head a half-inch bore, like a pistol-barre], and the breech of which is nearly opposite to the place where the barb leaves the shank, at which point is inserted a cone for percussion-caps, with a proper hammer and mainspring set in the shank on the side opposite the barb, with a trigger set in the shank on the side with the barb and covered by it, the whole of the percussion-lock to be covered by a portion of the harpoon, so as to be protected from the water or theflesh of the whale, the point of the harpoon to be a separate piece of iron to fit onto the harpoon-head by means of a dowel to be inserted into the bore after charging, with a linen patch to make it perfectly tight, and a smaller dowel in the harpoon, to fit a corresponding hole in the point, to keep its edges coincident with the weapon, the point itself to be used as a projectile to be forced ofi' by the explosion, in order to kill the whale immediately, the barb to be made thick enough on the back or resisting side to cover the trigger from all pressure when the weapon enters, and the trigger so arranged as to be snapped by the drawing of the line either by the whale or the harpooner bringing the trigger in contact with the flesh.

The accompanying drawings show, Figure 1, the harpoon with the point on, but the side piece which covers the percussion-lock off, and

exhibiting the interior arrangement of the look. A is the cone at the breech of the bore. B is a band or ring which holds the side which covers the lock. 0 is the trigger. D is the hammer; E, the spring. Fig. 2- is the point detached, with the dowel which fits the bore. Fig. 3 is the trigger as separated from the weapon. Fig. 4 is a section of the weapon, showing the muzzle into which the dowel of the point is to be inserted. Fig. 5 is a simple spring for the hammer of the look. Fig. 6 is the hammer detached. Fig. 7 is the side piece which covers the lock and tits on over the look by means of a dowel at the end near the point, and is held by the band B, and to be made sure against water by covering the seam with tallow or hard soap. Fig.8 shows the weapon as it appears ready for use.

I do not claim the invention of the harpoon as ordinarily made; but

What I claim as my invention, and Wish to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The interior of the harpoon made as a pistol-barrel, with percussion-lock, protected from water or outward accident, and the trigger of which can be actuated by means of a pull on the line and the resistance of the flesh, substantially as described.

2. The making the point of the harpoon the projectile which is shot into the whale, in the manner and for the purposes substantially as described.

3. The arrangement of the trigger in the shank under the barb in the mode described, preventing the explosion of the charge till the line is drawn by the whale or the harpooner.

CHARLES BURT.

Witnesses:

A. T. PALMER, WM. FREDERICK. 

